Defense Agency Wants to Talk About Operations on Twitter

The Defense Department wants to communicate with the public about security, and is looking into Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as potential platforms. 

In a new solicitation for information about "social media manager training," the Defense Media Activity, a Pentagon agency, said it was seeking experts who can come up with new ways to use social media -- especially to "engage online audiences in two-way conversations that strengthen the trust and support of service members, veterans, DOD civilians, family members and the American public."

That expert might approach social media as a means to have "meaningful conversations about the DOD/security challenges and capabilities at the earliest stages of operational planning," the solicitation said. They may also use analytics generated from social media data to plan public campaigns, and also train commanders to use social media. 

Other requirements for the contractor include:

• Managing Pentagon social media accounts, complying with privacy and operational security requirements
• Repurposing DOD content so it can be published on social media, remaining "both informative and entertaining"
• Incorporating social media into DOD communications plans

Operational since 2011, the Defense Media Activity runs educational media campaigns and projects intended to inform the public about defense operations, such as "DoD News" and other websites. 

DMA already has a social media team, and it's not yet clear how closely the contractor would work with that internal team. 

Nextgov has requested additional comment from DMA.  

(Image via Ivelin Radkov/Shutterstock.com)